Will Richard is already making his presence felt in Golden State, and the former Florida guard just added another line to his early NBA résumé by helping the Warriors win the Las Vegas Summer League title.
Golden State edged the Memphis Grizzlies, 94-90, on Sunday night in the championship game to claim the Summer League crown. Richard finished with 13 points, four rebounds and two steals, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and posting a plus-nine in 29:25 on the floor.
The Warriors got a big night from first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg, the former Michigan standout who put up 21 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals in 23 minutes. LJ Cryer also chipped in with 15 points and six assists.
Richard’s showing fit the same mold that made him such a steady piece for Golden State as a rookie. He played in 69 games during the 2025-26 season and averaged 6.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He also flashed early, dropping 30 points just nine games into the season.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has already been a believer. After a win over the Indiana Pacers, Kerr praised Richard’s feel for the game and the way he fits into winning basketball.
"Will's been amazing. Really early on in camp, I didn't know a whole lot about him when we got him, but really early on in camp you could see he really knew how to play," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the Warriors' win over the Indiana Pacers.
"You could see he was constantly making the right cut, the right pass. He's solid, his fundamentals are fantastic, you can see all the experience he's had in big games coming in here.
Will, he's a ball-player, and we're excited to have him, and he's going to contribute quite a bit for us this year, like he did tonight."
Richard’s connection to Florida has stayed strong even after moving on to the NBA. He was the first transfer to commit to Todd Golden when Golden arrived in Gainesville, and he also helped bridge a key conversation between Draymond Green and UF forward Thomas Haugh as Haugh weighed whether to return for his senior season or enter the NBA Draft.
"It was through Will. I was just like really up in the air about it and I was talking to all my people, my parents, obviously, was talking to a lot, Coach (Todd) Golden, all the coaching staff here, my agent and stuff like that.
And I kind of wanted to get like a perspective from like a player and stuff like that, so I called Will and I was like, 'Yo, what's going on here?' He's like, 'We're actually talking about it in the locker room.
Draymond, Steph and all them were in the locker rooms saying stuff. I was like, 'It's kind of crazy'," Haugh recalled in June.
"And then he's like, 'I'm actually going to add Draymond right now.' And then we talked for like 45 minutes.
It was pretty sick."
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One Missing Piece Is Hanging Over The Gators Summer League Story
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Alijah Martins absence because of injury was the one obvious setback in the mix, even if the expectation remains that he should be in decent shape for his next NBA opportunity in the fall. The bigger question hanging over the Gators summer story, though, is what it means that Walter Clayton Jr. never suited up at all, leaving one notable piece of the picture still unresolved as the offseason moves on. [Read more 🡒]